*pour the lemon juice in a measuring cup then with that in, pour in milk until 1 c. This makes 1 c. fat free buttermilk.

**place old fashioned oats (plain oatmeal) in a blender until it is a fine powder

Preheat oven to 375*F. Make the fat free buttermilk first and let it sit for 5 ish minutes. In a large bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients (flours, baking powder/ soda, salt, cinnamon, splenda, brown sugar) then make a well and set aside. In a medium bowl mix mix the egg beaters, applesauce and buttermilk. Pour the liquids into the flour mixture and stir until BARELY moistened. Lightly stir in zucchini, carrots and optional mix ins. Muffin batter should be slightly lumpy. Pour into a lightly greased muffin pan until almost all the way full but not overflowing. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Yields: 12-14 regular sized muffins

Store leftovers in the fridge!! (The applesauce will make them go bad faster if they are left at room temperature. In the fridge, they will keep for a week--if they even last that long!)

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

2009.
Summer 2009.
That was an eventful time in our lives.
Casey returned from his mission.
We started dating.
And quickly became engaged.
(Then married later that fall.)
But it was also my last summer as an EFY counselor.
(The only downside to marriage... No more EFY but I wouldn't trade anyway!)
Every year EFY has a new CD.
And I love each song on all of my many years of EFY CDs.
But for some reason, "More Than the World" from 2009 has stuck with me.
I think about this song when I have nothing else to think about, when I have
plenty of things to think about.
When I'm happy or crazy busy. It doesn't matter-- I constantly think about
this song.
So I made a list o my own personal pearls.
It mostly follows the style of the original but I never tried singing it so I doubt
it fits the rhythm perfectly.
But these truly are MY PEARLS!
These are the things worth living for when the rest of life seems crummy,
stressed, or forgotten.
(I borrowed the original song's chorus...)

Friday, August 24, 2012

Lame excuse but the Wii doesn't work. Casey is hopefully going to look into it and trouble shoot/ give it tech support. I hope it and the biggest loser game can be recovered!! But anyway, we don't own a scale-- just the Wii board. And although I don't think I'm making any progress at loosing weight, it would be nice to know! :)

Goals until the Wii is fixed:
1. Exercise earlier in the day before I get distracted with a million other things and either go running or use workout DVDs.
2. Write "exercise" on my to-do list so even if few other things get crossed off because I'm spending the day taking care of Baby Bunny, I can remember that I did something great!
3. Make a list of why I want to do this and what I will gain from it. Then post the list where I can see it.
4. Limit my snacks to healthy choices. I do great normally eating healthy at meals but it is the in between stuff that kills.
5. (And most important!) Remember that I am a Daughter of God. He created me in His image and my body (though not perfect) truly is a gift!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Recently my Costco card expired and we were debating whether or not we wanted to renew it. We then considered all of our options and wondered if we would like Sam's Club better. While walking around the county fair last Friday, Sam's Club had a booth. And well... let's just say that we were convinced and went with Sam's Club.

Here are the reasons...

1. MembershipCostco costs $55 to join per year. Sam's Club was $40 plus we were given a $20 gift card when we signed up.

2. DiapersCostcodoes not carry the diapers we like and the smallest size there is 2 (or 1-2 for generic brand).
Sam's Club has Pampers and they start at size NB and go all the way up. We had to have my mom keep taking me to
Sam's Club so I could buy NB diapers for Devin. I think he used 3 or 4 boxes of NB plus several packages.3. Canned Chicken
I don't like Costco's canned chicken. It has TONS of water. I do like
Sam's Club's canned chicken because it has WAY more meat. Once again, I would have to have my mom take me there to buy canned chicken.

4. MilkCostcosells milk by the 2 gallons. That doesn't work for us because we drink different milks. (Me-skim. Casey- 1%. And someday Devin-whole.)Sam's Club sells milk individually by the gallon. So we can both have the milk we want at a cheaper price.

5. VarietyCostcohas a very limited selection.
Sam's Club has a much larger selection. My example with diapers--
Sam's Club has three different brands in every size but
Costco only has two brands starting at size 2.

Since we live close to both and they charge the same cost to print pictures (I use the photo lab a lot!), we didn't take those into consideration. I guarantee that if we lived extremely far away from one of them, we would have by default chosen the closer one.

I'm in the process of figuring out a reward system to hopefully motivate me more. I will be able to earn money to buy new clothes. I will post the details later. I hate doing stickers on charts/ earning money because one should be motivated I do things from the heart. But, until my heart is determined, I need something to help!

So I realized why everyone thinks he looks so tiny. Because his head is so small compared to his weight and especially his height. 7% to 63% is a rather drastic difference. But that 7% head of his is so smart and trying to learn about his world!!

And now I have a lethargic Baby Bunny. He did not like getting his shots. It took me a LONG time to calm him down afterwards and now he can't seem to stay awake. But so far, he doesn't seem to be in much pain and no fever. But he is just so groggy.

Clothing Size: he finally fits in newborn without swimming in it! He is going to outgrow it lengthwise fairly soon though. But 0-3 months are way too big around for his skinny body. And... for the record... There is a total of ONE white blessing outfit that comes in NB. I searched countless stores and online and there was only one option.

Diaper Size: 1. He just graduated to 1s on Aug. 6 and that is because we ran out of NB. But the NB diapers were honestly getting kind of snug which resulted in blowouts.

Milestones: holds head up while I hold him in my arms or sit him on my lap, for sure knows both of our voices and faces, loves batting at his toys, can do push ups for long periods, holds on to things when we place it in his hand, grabbed his teddy bear by himself, blows spit bubbles, smiles a lot, stares at objects/ pictures for a while

Eating: he loves Mommy's milk! He sure does eat a lot--generally around 7-8 ounces (though sometimes more) for his bedtime feeding.

Sleeping: normally (normally being the key word-- there are times when his sleep is more sporadic) goes to sleep around 10:30pm and then sleeps until 4ish am. Then back asleep about an hour later and then sleeps till 7-8. He then plays in the morning followed by a short nap. He takes a longer nap in the afternoon.

Communication: he has so many different noises/ cries to let us know what he wants. He is a chatterbox and grunts, aaahs, oooohs, and squeals a lot but not a huge crier. He also let's us know what he wants with his cute smile

Likes: laying on his back and batting at his jungle gym while I do other things, telling us stories, jumping with his legs and sitting up right in our arms, taking showers, holding onto his fish rattle, having his face tickled by the burp cloth, going on rides

Dislikes: having his nose picked/ suctioned, swimming because he got too cold, having his face cleaned after eating, being hungry

Nicknames: Mr. Devin, Baby Bunny, Spitball

Most Memorable Moment(s): his baby blessing and charming white tuxedo

Hardest Part: listening to him complain and we can't figure out what he wants, middle of the night feedings/ sleep schedules

Lisa's Favorite Part: holding him and playing together, being able to be a stay at home mommy, listening to his happy stories (just not in the middle of the night)

Friday, August 3, 2012

While Devin and I were strolling through the library a few days ago, we found one book that we had to check out and read to Daddy. "How to get a JOB by Me the Boss." (written by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Sue Heap) I read it to Casey (and Devin). And although it is a children's picture book it makes some wonderful suggestions.

"First, you must write down EVERY SINGLE THING you're good at on ONE PIECE OF PAPER that's called your Resume. And then you have to keep showing it to everyone. 'Look, Everyone!' you say. 'See how ABSOLUTELY marvelous I am?'"

"Now you have a 'Job Interview.' which is when The Boss asks you TONS of questions to find stuff out. Like, are you a criminal? Can you read and write? Do you know how to use scissors? Can you dress yourself?"

"At the end of the Interview you say, 'Please may I have the job?' And The Boss says, 'OK, here it is.' And that's when you shake hands and shout, 'Hooray for ME! I got the job! I'm so COMPLETELY GREAT!'"

After reading it to Casey, I asked him to evaluate how he was doing. His resume IS only ONE page. (I'm impressed!) He is not a criminal and knows how to use scissors. But he confessed that he had never begged for the job at the end. Bingo. We found the problem-- ask for the job at the end! :)

He has been applying for jobs since long before Devin was born. He can't even remember how many applications he has filled out nor the number of interviews. But he has had probably 5 or 6 interviews recently. And so we kept praying.

And today Casey jumped with joy as he was able to shout, "I got the JOB!" Yippee! And it is at the place where he liked the best. Our constant prayer has been answered! Our needs will be taken care of, he can continue with school, will never have to work a weekend, has paid holidays and vacation days, and we will have BENEFITS!!!! Yeah!!! And now our constant prayer is one of gratitude!

Catching a smile is rather difficult. Devin smiles and I grab the camera and then he stops. We repeat this many times during throughout the day. Smiles. I reach for iTouch. No smile. Here are some of his almost pictured smiles in the past few days....

Season two week one was shaky. It was difficult. It was challenging. I struggled to eat healthy again. I was enjoying eating junk food and sweets all the time. (Which I know I shouldn't have been doing anyway...) And it is a tricky business to balance calories right now because I'm not sure how many calories I actually need with breastfeeding. Everything I read suggests a range-- not helpful when that range is such a huge difference!

I did however completely enjoy exercising gain! :) I started the couch to 10K program and it pushed me. But it felt good to be running/ brisk walking. And totally sweating while playing the wii. Devin is the best work out buddy! Either in the stroller or working out himself on the floor doing tummy time.

Anyway, it is small but it is a start!!

[-2 pounds]

P. S. The picture was taken yesterday at the top of Ensign Peak. I love the front pack carrier but it sure does add a lot of extra work to carry a baby with you!